Section: Hardware
October 14, 2007 by
Jason
I have said this before and I am going to say it again. Windows Vista gives the user an unprecedented level of control, compared to older versions of the Windows platform. This despite minor setbacks from Patch Guard, Kernel Mode Code Signing and the User Account Control. And “Turn Windows features on or off” is just such an example. I managed to come across this functionality when my Windows Vista Business operating system installed by default without the games that ship with the operating system.
Initially I blamed the operating system and the limitations associated with a modest Windows Experience Score. Since my graphic card is mediocre to say the least, but just enough to run Windows Aero, and on this machine I do not need more, I thought that there was a connection between the lack of horsepower and Vista settings which did not allow me access to the default games of the operating system. Nothing could be further from the truth, after all the games also ship with Windows Vista Home Basic, and this version of the operating system is created to run on low end system configurations. Read More»
Posted in Hardware, Windows Vista | 2 Comments »
October 10, 2007 by
Jason In previous versions of Windows, you would find a built in utility called ScanDisk. This utility exists in Windows XP but is called the Error Checking utility. So, in addition to running Disk Cleanup and Disk Defragmenter to optimize the performance of your computer, you can check the integrity of the files stored on your hard disk by running the Error Checking utility.
As you use your hard drive, it can develop bad sectors. Bad sectors slow down hard disk performance and sometimes make data writing (such as file saving) difficult, or even impossible. The Error Checking utility scans the hard drive for bad sectors, and scans for file system errors to see whether certain files or folders are misplaced. Read More»
Posted in Computer, Hardware | 2 Comments »
October 10, 2007 by
Jason Booting to Safe Mode can be a very effective method of troubleshooting a system. Safe Mode allows only essential files and drivers to be used. An example of why you would need Safe Mode is; If you have installed a new hardware device and upon rebooting your system it will not start. If you can get into Safe Mode you will be able to remove the offending hardware device from your system and allow your system to boot normally.
If there are damaged, deleted or corrupt system files involved, Safe Mode may not be an option. You may need to use the Recovery Console for help. Read More»
Posted in Computer, Hardware, Windows XP | 3 Comments »
October 10, 2007 by
Jason If you’ve moved up from Windows 95 or 98 to Windows XP, one big thing you’ll notice is that creating new partitions doesn’t have to be done from the command line any more. Windows XP makes it easy to create a new partition using the graphical disk management tool. Here’s how:
1. Turn off your computer and install your new hard disk. It’s unlikely that you have any unpartitioned space on which to create a new partition on the drive already in the machine, so you’ll need to add a new drive. New drives typically don’t come preformatted, so you’ll need to create your own partitions and format them.
2. Start your computer and logon as an administrator. Click Start and then click the Run command. In the Open text box type: diskmgmt.msc and click OK. Read More»
Posted in Computer, Hardware, Windows XP | 3 Comments »
October 07, 2007 by
Jason
The System tool in Control Panel uses currentspeed to do its reporting rather than maxspeed, but the System tool may display the wrong clock speed for the Central Processing Unit (CPU).
As of January 2002, Windows XP uses the currentspeed value rather than the maxspeed value because the maxspeed value was reporting inconsistent values.
After startup, the processor may not correctly reflect its correct speed until a program utilizes processor cycles.
The computer basic input/output system (BIOS) in some laptop computers may throttle the processor because of heat, load, power AC/DC. Read More»
Posted in Computer, Hardware, Windows XP | 4 Comments »
October 02, 2007 by
Jason Can’t go on. Need . . . more . . . memory.
The dreaded “Out of Memory” error is relatively easy to fix when you’re talking storage (short-term solution: delete a file; long-term solution: buy a new hard drive). But when it comes to the other kind of memory, also known as RAM (random-access memory) that’s the internal kind of memory your computing device uses things can get a little bit more complicated.
Are you running your machines ragged? OK, there’s no evidence that an insufficient amount of memory will hurt your hardware at least none that I’ve seen. But you could be running yourself ragged (and compromising your company’s productivity) by ignoring a memory-deficiency within your own organization.
So how do you prevent the dreaded error message from putting a crunch on your profits? Here are three tips. Read More»
Posted in Computer, Hardware | 1 Comment »
September 18, 2007 by
Jason Every once in a while you notice that your hard drive is working extra hard for what seems like no reason. A background process has taken your hard drive hostage, forcing it to thrash loudly as it struggles to keep up with the high rate of reads and writes. Your computer responds slowly as the process overloads the physical limitations of your drive. What are you to do?
The solution is simple, although a little tricky at times: identify and stop the process that is killing your drive. There are two methods and tools that you can use to identify the process. Read More»
Posted in Computer, Hardware | 6 Comments »
September 16, 2007 by
Jason Windows Vista operates external hard drives that are connected with USB differently than internal drives. Write caching is disabled so that you can safely remove the drive at almost any time. This is a great feature for USB thumb drives that are frequently inserted and removed from your computer. But if you have a large hard drive that is in an external enclosure that you never disconnect from your computer, write caching is also disabled which can decrease performance.
This tweak is going to show you how to increase the performance of your external hard drives by turning write caching back on as well as activating advanced performance. Let’s get started: Read More»
Posted in Computer, Hardware | 2 Comments »
September 16, 2007 by
Jason Windows Vista is a resource hog. Microsoft’s latest operating system will swallow every last bit of hardware resources you throw at it in the race for a top user experience, a concept synonymous with high performance. And yet, there are scenarios in which Vista will eat away CPU cycles, huge amounts of random access memory, completely hug a ReadyBoost USB device and still underperform. The operating system will choke even on the most common of tasks, abandoning the user to slowdowns in system performance and to unresponsive processes catalyzed by nothing more than routine and mundane actions. No doubt, Vista has a few rough corners in terms of reliability and performance, but there are a few solutions available, until Microsoft delivers the first Service Pack in 2008. Read More»
Posted in Computer, Hardware, Windows Vista | 5 Comments »
September 05, 2007 by
Jason
The Safely Remove Hardware mechanism is by no means something new to Windows Vista. In fact the feature has only survived into Vista with little to no enhancements. Essentially, Safely Remove Hardware is an integer part of the Vista model for managing Plug and Play devices, designed to notify the operating system that a certain item will be removed. The feature will make sure that there is no more interaction between Windows Vista and the Plug and Play hardware attached in order to streamline the removal of specific devices without having to shut down the operating system and without leading to loss of data.
“Some Plug and Play devices can be installed or removed while the system is running. For example, USB, IEEE 1394, and PC Card devices can be added to and removed from a fully powered system. When such hardware is added or removed, Read More»
Posted in Hardware, Windows Vista | 3 Comments »
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